While I do believe we've improved from a year ago, a season of highs and lows ended in disappointment and in a place we've all come to know oh so well. And that little place is called 'average'. As we head into the offseason with some questions we're going to have to find answers to, I figured I'd give you my take on the 2013 season with a list of the best and the worst for our beloved Dolphins. BEST PLAYER: Brent Grimes, CB In an offseason of wild spending, it was the little guy with the one-year contract coming off an Achilles injury who wound up being our best player. Grimes was absolutely stellar all season long and was one of the best players at any position in the entire NFL. Any contract and accolade he will get are all well deserved and well earned. Being able to leave Grimes alone in coverage was a major benefit to the rest of the defense and I believe his presence and experience had a great impact on the rest of the secondary. I'll deal with his wacko wife as long as he's balling for us. Pay the man! WORST PLAYER: Phillip Wheeler, LB Easily our worst free agent signing in years and has to be one of the worst in the NFL in 2013. Anything bad a linebacker could do, he did, and he did plenty of it. Missing tackles? Check. Constantly gobbled up by blockers? Check. Getting trucked by running backs? Check. Poor in coverage? Check. Committing terrible penalties at the most inopportune times? Check. If LeSean McCoy was left by himself, he could run the length of the field against 11 Phillip Wheelers and score a touchdown. And at least two of those Phillip Wheelers would have been called for a penalty along the way. MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Charles Clay, TE/FB/RB/LOCOMOTIVE There were a few guys I was thinking about giving this award to. Olivier Vernon, Rishard Matthews, and Jared Odrick were all in the running, but I had to go with Big Play Clay. While Clay still has plenty of work to do as a blocker, what he brings as a receiver has been a very welcome addition to our passing offense. You can line him up literally anywhere on the field and he'll make a play. He'll catch passes in the flat, he'll catch them over the middle and he'll catch them deep down the sidelines. Oh, and he'll also run the ball too. A Swiss-army knife. What Clay can do with the ball in his hands is quite refreshing and a thrill to watch. Don't even bother getting in his way, he will just run you over. Just ask the Steelers and Chargers. MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER: Reshad Jones, S After a breakout performance in 2012 (and a big contract to follow), Jones was simply not the same player this year. I do think a big part of it was that he was asked to do different things this season and he wasn't able to freelance and make plays like he did a year ago. Even still, he missed plenty of tackles and struggled in coverage quite a bit. While I did see the same aggressiveness, I didn't see the same results. Hopefully he'll rebound next season. BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE: Ryan Tannehill vs. New England In a game many of us, including myself, deemed a "statement game", Ryan Tannehill went out there and out-Brady'd Brady. Throwing two 4th quarter touchdowns, including the game winner with less than 2 minutes to play. He finished the day completing 68% of his passes with 312 yards, 3 touchdowns and zero turnovers and snapping the Patriots long, painful 7 game winning streak against us. Easily the best performance of his career so far. WORST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE: Brian Hartline at Buffalo This one was hard to pick. Most of the bad performances were mainly unit related than individual. That said, Hartline had his worst career game in Buffalo when he dropped 4 key passes. You just never expect that from Hartline, who is known for his great hands and consistency. Therefore, he gets this spot. BEST TEAM PERFORMANCE Week 15 vs. Patriots Much like what I said above about Tannehill, this was the teams best game of the year. From the coaches to the players and even the fans at Sun Life. Fell behind 10-0 but didn't quit. The offense regained the lead late and the defense stood tall and stopped Brady at the end. One of the more satisfying and impressive wins in quite some time, considering the opponent and what they had done to us in recent years. WORST TEAM PERFORMANCE: Week 7 vs. Bills I could have gone with any 3 games here. Either of the two Bills games, or Sunday's Jets game. In the end though, there's absolutely no excuse to lose at home coming off a bye to a team with no quarterback. Tannehill was awful to start that game, and the offensive line and defense were awful to end it. BEST PLAY Cameron Wake walk-off safety vs. Cincinnati One of the most intense, anxiety-filled, exciting games of the year (and there were plenty), Cameron Wake does what he does best and got to Andy Dalton in the endzone in overtime. A WAKE-off safety. A finish I had never, ever seen before and probably won't see again for a long, long time. What a thrill. WORST PLAY: Ryan Tannehill late fumble vs. Buffalo Holding onto a one point lead with around 2 minutes to play, Tyson Clabo let's Mario Williams destroy him en-route to hitting Tannehill and forcing a fumble that the Bills would recover to set up the game-winning field goal from our old pal Dan Carpenter. The feeling I got when I saw that ball rolling 15 yards behind our offense with nothing but blue jerseys running after it still makes me sick. A fitting end to our worst performance of the year. I was going to make a category for rookies too, but really, what's the point?
I think Charles Clay deserves an honorable mention in both the 'best individual performance' and 'best play' categories for his work in Pittsburgh earlier this month.
I wanted to put his game-winner against Pitt in there but walk-off safeties are so rare I couldn't pass it up.
Honorable mention for worst play should go to Lamar Miller against the Bengals for cutting back towards defenders on a long (should be TD) run and then also fumbling the ball inside the 10.
Although it can be nitpicked to all hell, and im sure it might , I can't say I disagree with any of this. Nice write up, Rock. Im glad you mentioned reshad... biggest disappointment by FAR after last season. Almost couldn't believe it. Grimes' and Clays spots are 100% on point.. and rightfully so. I pray we lock grimey up and throw away the key.... and while im thinking about it I remember how sick to my stomach I felt when Keller went down.. what a site it woulda been to see some 2 TE sets with them both.
if you look at it week by week and the importance of it, but did that drop by matthews cost us bigtime against the jets, its clearly my worst play of the season
Nice list, Rocky. Obviously, folks can quibble (which I'll do below ), but altogether, I think your list is very, very strong. I might have tagged Tyson Clabo for worst individual performance against the Bills in Week 7. He had a tough game all-around against Williams, and then Mario just blew by him... when we were ahead (and passing, wait... what?!)... and caused that critical fumble. If any one play can be a season-changer, that one was. Any one game we would have won would have gotten us into the playoffs, and that single play basically cost us the game. And then, I know you were going with on the field stuff, but it's hard for me not to see Jonathan Martin (and, really, Richie Incognito, as well) as the most disappointing player. Martin was a second round pick that the Dolphins, at least arguably, thought could man the LT spot. He was pretty awful while he played, and then, well, everyone knows the rest of the story... I say this stuff, but I'd pretty much be satisfied with your list. Well done.
Yeah, I wanted to stay away from anything Incognito/Martin related. I considered Tyson Clabo but to me, the entire line was terrible that game. And all though Clabo's guy gave up the sack, there were 2 or 3 other guys who would have sacked Tannehill on that play anyway. Collectively poor effort. But you're right, I could have easily put Clabo in that spot.
Oh LOL. I guess I never saw that as a true fumble. That would certainly win funniest moment of the year.
Man... I was there.. the stadium was so quiet before that snap you could hear a pin drop. . And then everyone just straight lost it. It was hands down the best game and finish I ever witnessed live and I too thought that game was our turning point.. I was sure of it.. Atlanta had always given us a hard time.. and that game winning drive was a masterpiece. ..... and then we blew it and so did ATL.. and the feeling and weight of that victory is a fraction of what it once was.. but man what a feeling it was at the time... indescribable. .
Good stuff Roc, thanks. Could be best thread since the new logo one ! Only thing I could try to disagree with is worst performance, as I'm not even sure you can cred Hartline with 4 drops. Atleast one of them initially looked like a drop, but it was revealed the DBs hands got to the ball first. Still a very dissapointing outing. Wallace probably had a worse performance at some (no, multiple) point(s), clabo vs. BUF, and of course wheeler.
Yup, your ultimately right though, we just didn't expect that from BHart, big letdown. Happy new year to all, and many more. Here's to a more united fanbase in 2014, and that playoff birth we're starved for !
How is Week 7 worse than Weeks 10, 16 or 17? We almost won week 7 (granted it was still bad to come that close with a injury ridden, terrible Bills team) but the horrendous performances of the last two weeks are in a league of their own. Also Sturgis is easily the most disappointing player.
